An Electric Power Industry Evolution – From Provider to Partner
This post was originally published on 8/19/2011 Scientific American’s blog, Plugged In. On February 1, 2011 a sudden cold snap and severe winter storms sent electricity demand in Texas through the roof. In a single hour, temperatures dropped almost 30 degrees. And, as temperatures dropped, the state’s power plants were unable to keep up with the growing demand. The resulting series of blackouts affected... Read More
10 Calories In, 1 Calorie Out – The Energy We Spend on Food
This post was originally posted on Scientific American’s Plugged In on 8/11/2011. In December, I attended Michael Pollan‘s lecture at the University of Texas’s Bass Concert Hall. My friend, Katie, had called me that morning to ask if I would be interested in joining her for the lecture – she knew that I had read three of Pollan’s books on food and had also found out... Read More
Guest Post – Tighten Up Your House, But Not Too Much
The following was originally published on Scientific American’s Plugged In on 8/10/2011. It is a guest post written by Joshua Rhodes and Brent Stephens, PhD students at The University of Texas at Austin. As a part of their research, they work on two different aspects of buildings, with Josh focusing on energy use and efficiency and Brent focusing on indoor air quality. Their post compliments David... Read More
Energy Efficiency for Economic Strength
This post was originally published on 8/4/11 on Scientific American’s blog, Plugged In. In the face of this summer’s debates on how to manage the nation’s current debt load – which came to a temporary cease fire on Tuesday with the passage of a bill that will raise the government’s debt ceiling – I found myself looking back at speeches made by President Obama where he emphasized... Read More
Google Abandons PowerMeter
Google will be shutting down its PowerMeter – a free web-based application that allows UK residents to monitor their energy usage. According to an official Google blog post yesterday, PowerMeter will be retired on September 16, 2011. Google originally created the PowerMeter application with the idea that, with better access to information about their energy use, people will be able to make smart... Read More
Smart Meters from the Golden to the Lone Star State
Smart meters are being installed throughout the United States as a part of the process of modernizing the nation’s electric grid. Two major players in the smart meter installation game are California and Texas. Check out two smart meter commercials from these two (very different?) states: The Golden State of California Texas – The Lone Star State [Title page photo by:... Read More
Texas Smart Grid Experts Head to the White House
Kate Galbraith The Texas Tribune, 5/19/2011 Texas’s smart-grid initiatives are getting some attention in Washington. On Friday morning, a small group of Texans, including the chairman of the Public Utility Commission, Barry Smitherman, will brief White House representatives on the smart-meter rollout and related issues in the state. “There is a lot of experimentation and research going... Read More
ARPA-E: Leaping Ahead in Energy Storage Innovation
The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) works at the heart of high-risk energy innovations. Modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), ARPA-E was established in 2007 to promote and fund energy technology research and development. With an annual budget in the neighborhood of $400 million, this agency supports the development of technologies that result... Read More
Reducing oil imports – POTUS speaks at Georgetown
Yesterday, I wrote a post about President Obama’s speech at Georgetown, which focused on how the U.S. can reduce its dependence on foreign oil resources. For those who would like to see the entire speech (at just under 47 minutes), here is the video: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfeKFulcPSM&w=640&h=390] Read More
Obama’s plan to reduce oil imports
Today, President Obama discussed his strategy to reduce US oil imports, with the goal of a 1/3 reduction in the next 10 years. This announcement complimented his State of the Union commitment to the goal of producing 80% of the country’s electricity from clean energy sources by 2035 by focusing on the oil and gas section of the US energy pie. According to a senior White House official, the... Read More
